PICKUP?The economics ministry expects manufacturing revenue to rise sequentially this quarter, aided by new product launches by Apple Inc and other global brands

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 17, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Manufacturing revenue shrank 0.8 percent annually to NT$12.84 trillion (US$391.92 billion) in the first half of the year, dragged down by weaker-than-expected global smartphone demand and falling global crude oil prices, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

Revenue in the second half may be flattish or even decline from a year earlier because of a higher comparison base last year, the ministry said.

Last quarter alone, revenue dropped 2.9 percent to NT$6.46 trillion from a year earlier, as slowing smartphone demand negatively affected the sales performance of Taiwanese chip designers.

“Sales in the second quarter contracted on an annual basis for the first time in the past seven quarters,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Yang Kuei-hsien (楊貴顯) said by telephone.     [FULL  STORY]